Month: August 2014

If you’re like me you grew up never or hardly ever – in my case: that one exception when we traveled to England in 2000 – eating the once popular Lunchables. Is anybody else surprised those still exist?? Just me? They apparently got an upgrade because my box looked somewhat like this – and was yet more proof some things seem [way] more exciting than they are. More often than not it was mum-ables for me growing up: school lunches packed by my mum. Sandwiches on local whole-wheat bread with cheese or deli meats, some fruit, the occasional chocolate croissant and water or juice in my Emil bottle. Oh, the memories … but I digress.

The mum-ables for today’s What I ate Wednesday and Vegan Wednesday are different from that: meals my mum [and her well-stocked freezer] enabled me to create. Ergo: mum-ables. Unfortunately most of the meals prepared by my mum for a belated birthday feast on Saturday escaped my camera. But every one the dishes and snacks in today’s post came – in one way or the other – about thanks to my mum. And her garden and fridge but you’ll see what I mean.

Breakfastwith a little help by my mum means … kabocha again. But not any. We’re talking homegrown kabocha from my mum’s huge vegetable garden. No matter how good – and aside from the very bad ones I’ve found – some of the squash at stores it nothing beats homegrown. It’s about ten dozen times creamier with that coveted ‘dry’ texture. Not clearly visible in the picture but I’m not patient when it comes to eating so you’ll have to trust my word on that one here.

As a fun fact the very first kabocha I ate actually was an accident. Or in the growing state at least. About five years ago my mum attempted to grow pumpkin for the first time. Just for me because the remainder of the family doesn’t care much for it. Since I’d only know Red Kuri squash until then that was our choice from the seed catalogue. But when the first little pumpkins started to grow they were … green. I’d only heard of kabocha on Katie’s blog before but actually didn’t make the connection in the first place. Fast forward to today I couldn’t be happier the people at the gardening shop mailed us the ‘wrong’ seeds.

This up there would be the only pictures I got of everything my mum prepared on Saturday. She made sure to keep the spread centered around vegetarian or even vegan dishes with only some meat on the side. The dried apricots actually were meant to go in a cream cheese dip my mum had planned to make but didn’t end up. So I’ve been snacking on them for the past few days whenever a craving for something sweet hit. And when I wasn’t raiding the snack cabinets or the garden for a sweet and savoury snack. Tomatoes from my mum’s garden are proof that sometimes it’s hard to tell if they are a fruit or vegetable. Sweet like candy. Almost.

Another lunch was inspired by digging deep in the freezer. You will not ask me for the age of this gem right here: Gardein Chick’n Scallopini. I know it but ignorance is bliss and given I ate it earlier today [Tuesday] and went stomach ache-free afterwards I’ll proclaim having an iron stomach once again. Plus, it was delicious though I’ll admit the very meat-like texture is a tad weird still.

… and went into a dish that is falling into the ‘looks disgusting and tastes amazing’ category. The base was made up of easy creamed spinach [an onion sautéd in coconut oil, frozen chopped spinach, almond milk, nutmeg, salt + pepper plus garden-fresh tomato and some chickpeas], topped with one of the Gardein chick’n breast sautéd in coconut oil, some mushrooms and topped with kabocha puree. Yes, I realize it looks nasty but if you’ve ever blended kabocha you know the nice green makes-Hulk-jealous shade it turns out to be. Looks aside: File this in the ‘I could eat this over and over again’ category.

Dessertalso courtesy of my mum’s immense freezer [not even a close comparison with the shoe-box-sized freezer compartment of my fridge]: lemon sorbet. Not homemade but she keeps it there for spontaneous visits by guests or for me to eat when the remainder of the family dines on tiramisu made from scratch. And I’m not lying: while this sorbet was nice it’s dishes like my mum’s homemade tiramisu that make it hard for me to stick with not eating eggs. As a vegan dessert option, though, this sorbet is good enough in a pinch.

Plans for the next days or at latest the weekend include homemade ice cream because I’m finally reunited with my ice cream maker. We’ll see how that goes but if you know any good vegan recipes let me know! Our preferences are of the rich and creamy non-fruit kind.

Life/ blog realisation #293494: the more is happening in my life, the less likely I am to take pictures of said happenings. So while I could technically post a recap of the time between my move on Wednesday and today there are zero photos to document it. How else to join the marvelousness over at Katie’s? Surveys to the rescue!

The perfect occasion for a no-brainer topic everybody considers marvelous and likes to talk about: food. I snagged this epic survey from Amanda – thanks! – and will also follow her lead in breaking it up into two servings parts. Expect the second part soon but first parts first so here it goes!

Grains

1) Flavour-wise, do you prefer white breads or whole wheat?
Growing up on whole grain breads from a local organic bakery these will forever be my favourite. I’m picky, though: it has to be the kind laden with seeds.

2) What’s your favorite type of grain to eat (oatmeal, bread, wraps, etc)?:
Even though I usually struggle with naming favourites this one is clear: oats. They’re one of the most versatile grains ever: in various forms – rolled, steel-cut or [my favourite] oat bran – for breakfast, rotis/ lolis as a side for curries and oat flour in gluten-free baked goods like these incredible brownies.

3) What’s your favorite sandwich filling?
I’ll have to pass on this one: no sandwiches for me.

5) Around how many servings of grain do you consume daily?
This is tricky to answer. Not because I don’t eat grains – heck do I! – but as serving sizes confuse me. Adhering to pre-defined standard serving sizes doesn’t work for me. Some days I’ll need more than those, some days they fit my appetite. What I can say, though, is that grains are a key part of my daily meals.

7) What’s your favorite thing to do with rice?
Sweet: rice pudding. At best prepared by my mum using the ‘in-bed method’. Does anybody else’s mum do the same? ?
Savoury: either burrito bowls or some kind of casserole.

8) What brand of bread do you usually buy?
I buy bread once in a blue moon and preferably from local organic bakeries. Once, though, I was lucky to get a taste of the famous life-changing loaf of bread my sister had baked. It really is amazing,

9) What’s your favorite type of cereal?
Boring but the only one I regularly buy is unsweetened puffed amaranth. It’s delicious both plain and in place of bread crumbs in savoury dishes. The scarce choice of ‘healthy’ cereals we get over here doesn’t even closely compare to all brands available overseas.

10) What was your favorite type of breakfast cereal as a child?
Crunchy granola with chocolate chunks.

Fruits

1) Favorite fruit?
As with all those ‘favourites’: Tough question. I’ll go with most-eaten instead and say apples.

4) Do you consider tomatoes a fruit, or a vegetable?
I know it’s technically a fruit but in my mind it will always be a vegetable. And as long as supermarkets keep stocking it in the vegetable section I’ll feel proven right. (:

5) Do you think you eat enough fruit daily?:
Absolutely, yes. Maybe too much because moderation does -not- exist when it comes to fruit.

6) Do you consider fruit more important than vegetables?
Not more important but sweeter so I’m more likely to eat [lots of] it. Sweet tooth right here.

7) What’s your favorite citrus fruit?
Oranges.

8) Do you like pastries with fruit in them?
Hm, I’m trying to remember if I ever had a fruit pastry before. But if we’re talking crumbles than yes to those with fruit.

9) What’s your favorite flavour of jam?
Cherry -and- strawberry. At best made by my grandma but I’ve found a good brand as a replacement, too.

10) When do you usually eat the most fruit (breakfast, snack, etc)?:.
I’m snacking on fruit all throughout the day.

Veggies

1) When you were a kid, did you like vegetables?:
It was a tie. Neither was I the pickiest nor the most daring eater. Actually, I think I’ll ask my mum later to hear how she’d rated me there. Fingers crossed for an answer in my favour ;).

2) Do you think you eat enough vegetables now?:
Some days I could do better but for the most part: yes.

3) What’s your favorite raw vegetable?:
Carrots. But only organic ones that I’ve found to be naturally sweeter than their non-organic counterparts.

4) What’s your favorite cooked vegetable?:
Kabocha. Too bad it’s the vegetable with the shortest season over here. Just steamed and plain it’s perfection. No roasting or seasonings for me.

5) What’s your least favorite raw vegetable?:
Kohlrabi. You will not see me eat that. As a child I saw other kids snack on it and was so glad my mum never tucked it into my lunch box. Which means my children will probably be kohlrabi despisers, too.

7) What’s your favorite kind of salad?
On the rare occasion I eat salad I’ll use spinach or a store-bought salad mix as a base. But you know I’m more partial to grain salads..

8) Do you buy spaghetti sauce, or do you make your own?
Always homemade. I can see how it might be handy to use store-bought when short on time but Germany most definitely doesn’t boast sketchy-ingredient-free varieties. When I was still living at home my mum would occasionally buy some organic vegan bolognese sauce at the health food store for me when the rest of the family had her homemade non-vegetarian meat sauce.

9) When/if you order a sub at subway or mr. sub, what vegetables do you get on it?:
Ironically, I used to work at Subway but never ate there. The town I grew up in didn’t have Subway so I never had it prior to going vegetarian, either.

10) Do you like vegetables more than fruit?
Generally no. Unless you asked me during kabocha season which happens to be right now…

Happiness-inducing today:Another very big hug from my grandpa. This one doesn’t get old.

I’m tempted to repeat my usual astonisment of saying how fast time flew by – it really did! – again but you can say that only so often before it gets old. Instead, I’ll say that spending time with my family has taken priority these past days and felt so good after we hadn’t been around each other for quite some time. Blog reading hasn’t been happening too much this week. That’s why today’s list of good good links is shorter than usual. But there still was no shortage of inspiring, interesting and intriguingly delicious posts all around the blog world.

We made it! If you read yesterday’s post you know what my day looked like. While sad to have packed up the last four years of my life I’m also glad to be done. Half-way at least. The actual move to my new place isn’t until the end of next week. For now I’ll be staying with my parents and it feels good to be ‘home’ after quite a while. But today’s not about moving marvelings -though it was quite an interesting day to say the least … – but for Thinking out loud. Thanks to Amanda who also gave me inspiration for some thoughts here…

1. In the intro of her post presenting what has to be one of the best foods food groups invented by humankind – read: cookie dough which yes, it is a food group in its own right – Amanda talked about her [irrational or not so much] fears. I skipped answering the question about mine in the comments because I had cookie dough on my mind. Or maybe my mind had momentarily turned into cookie dough?! Either way: irrational fears. As a child I was terrified by the dark and checked for monsters under my bed. I may or may not still do to this day…

2. Another one: elevators. It’s a legit one. When in university I pretended to enjoy taking the stairs. If you knew me you’d laugh at that because I’m SO glad to live on the first floor. And taking up those seemingly endless flights up to the fourth floor every time I needed to contact a professor up there? Woof. Friends are usually surprised by this given I like running. But running doesn’t require me to climb stairs. Unless we talked tower runs and those are insanity to me. But taking the elevator instead? No way. At least not alone. If I’m with others who want to take it I’ll pretend to be cool with it on the outside but internally send a prayer. The one time me and a group of others got stuck for just a minute or so made me closely panic and leave once the elevator reached the next floor though we weren’t at the right one yet.

3. Do you ever have those days where you feel haunted by a certain topic? Either one you’ve been trying to avoid OR one that’s been on your mind forever? If you’ve ever been on a diet I’m pretty sure you’ll have noticed the whole world talking about the most indulgent foods or when you were unsure about buying a certain item suddenly everybody seemed to talk about it. This ‘hypersensitivity’ made me unable to decide if the universe qas trying to tell me something the other day again. I was at my gym for the last time before my move on Tuesday. Usually people aren’t super talkative – unless I take the initiative – but that day every girl leaving the locker room said goodbye. Thank you, universe, for letting me leave with a good memory of the people in this studio.

4. And to leave a good impression of myself in my neighbours’ memory I baked some cookies for them before I left. Granted, part of it had to do with trying to use up ingredients I had on hand if that isn’t a sweet way of killing two birds with one stone I don’t know. I’m showing you the bottom of these so you can see just how much chocolate action is going on there. These are Lindor-filled Chocolate Chip Cookies. The only changes I made were to halve the recipe, sub white sugar for brown since that’s what I had on hand and use one flax egg instead of a real one [I don’t eat eggs]. It worked a charm. Happy neighbours, happy me.

And: Happy Thursday to you! Which sounds a lot like Happy Birthday -> which probably means you should bake some cookies. Or cake. Just saying.

Happiness-inducing today: Joking around with my mum in between the nerve-wracking stress of moving.

Some coincidences make me laugh. I never eat anything merely for the blog but looking at my meals from the past days I did pretty well at fullfilling blog world [food] duties with my meals. Good to know because I wouldn’t have rejoiced about being kicked out of this circle of awesome people soon. And while we’re on the topic of blog world duties I’m not missing out on everybody’s favourite mid-week party over at Jenn’s, either. Here’s to What I ate Wednesday featuring typical blogger fare.

First up let me introduce our special guest – or: get all giddy about what I found just yesterday. If anybody would understand my excitement upon spotting this little guy and his friends* at the store it’d be you – fellow bloggers and blog readers. So let’s raise our glasses to welcome kabocha back in season! Or at least over here because I know some of you lucky ones are able to find it all year round.

*and if anybody could understand me talking about vegetables like this – and yes, I know pumpkin is techincally a berry.

Oops, I did it again – and will over and over as long as I can find my favourite ! If you remember I confessed to my unusual breakfast of kabocha last year already. In fact, I guess with that other habit in mind I’m probably an overall slightly unusual breakfast eater. Who’d be worried, though? All I care about is taste and satisfaction. And steamed kabocha with both hazelnut and almond butter –is my definition of satisfaction. If I ever was to write a [food] dictionary you’d find this combination right there.

The not-so-awesome part was that I only found kabocha two days before my move – which happens to be today. So no more stocking up. Crossed fingers for me surviving this nerve-wracking madness are appreciated.

Onto more good food for now. I’ve been trying new foods – or old rediscovered ones – and quinoa of all choices made an appearance again. It must have been at least (!) a year since my last encounter. And would probably have been a lot longer because I didn’t enjoy it much before. Blogger fail?! Had it not been for everybody posting even more quinoa meals lately [or maybe that was just my subjective perception] I’m not sure I’d have picked up a bag. Okay, you won. It was good. My first try was unspectacular but then I decided to work the – for whichever reason – magical [pseudo-]grain + cheese trick. What followed was so SO good. Caprese baked Quinoa.

Oh my. I’m still not sure what exactly my stomach thinks of cheese so I’m trying to be mindful of the amounts but I was tempted to add more here. Creamy, tomato-y quinoa with plenty of fresh basil, chickpeas, tomatoes and two kinds of cheese. Drizzled with balsamic vinegar: Perfection on a plate. The recipe is simple but so good I need to add it to my personal online cookbook. Or in other words: share with you if you prefer that version 😉 .

Lately I’ve been finishing almost every lunch with this:

Not like I hadn’t eaten it pre-blogging but I honestly can’t remember buying any myself in past years. Amanda and Kat fuelled the longing with their pictures and samples at the organic grocery had their impact, too. I’m not complaining and can now fully comprehend any mention of watermelon as cryptonite. It’s addictive. So much that actually taking a picture instead of mindlessly munching pieces once I’ve cut them up is hard. Hard enough so I didn’t have one to include in my currently post. #Bloggerfail??

Not a fail but not yet a recipe were these individual refined sugar-free peanut butter cheesecakes. I’m posting this first picture mostly to keep myself accountable or as a reminder to stick with testing. I just need to tweak them a bit more before I’m ready to share the details with you.

And to finally answer my question why so stereotypical: Because every blogger keen on quinoa, kissing kabocha, considering watermelon kryptonite or writing odes to a oatmeal/ whichever kind of nut butter/ you name it is so right.* For more typical and not-so-typical blogger fare head over to Jenn’s.

*[That does not ring true for green smoothies, though. Sorry.]

Happy Wednesday!

Happiness-inducing today: A chat about animal-shaped clouds, childhood and flying with three older ladies on a train – another wonderful case of talking to strangers .

If you are used to my short intros on Sundays already I should tell you I might break a record today because my laptop’s been crashing on me countless times while compiling this post. So short and sweet: finishing the week with some of my favourite posts once more – thought-provoking, inspiring, funny and delicious. Take your pick and enjoy!